I went to college in Detroit Michigan in 1999. Imagine a kid who was fascinated with the stock market and the finance industry. I started to develop a taste for owning property and soon became disillusioned with sitting at my desk in my business classes, listening to professors day after day. During my college courses, I often found myself planning out my next move. I’d soon invest in an FHA loan from the bank and buy my first few properties. Sure, I was young, but I was excited about getting started on this new entrepreneurial adventure where I’d soon make a lot more cash than the students with whom I went to school. They spent their days working part-time jobs or doing what they could to make ends meet, including just getting funded by their parents.

Property Flipping Taught Me More Than Books

While my friends and classmates studied, I’d visit my properties and learn what I needed to do to be an effective manager. I soon learned that as the money was flowing in, much of it needed to flow out to cover expenses that came with property management. At twenty years old, I was figuring out how to fix appliances like furnaces that had gone out in the winter or pipes that had frozen. I learned a lot on the fly and that ability to roll with the punches helped me immeasurably.

Without a mentor growing up or entrepreneurial parents, I didn’t have the upbringing that allowed for financial frivolousness and lavish spending. I came from a hard-working family. My grandparents were farmers who immigrated to the United States. I started working in the tenth grade and I never stopped. I know how to roll up my sleeves and learn things by doing. I’ve learned to work hard and take responsibility for my effort, however, a mentor was never part of the equation.

Don’t Limit Yourself: Age Doesn’t Matter

It was 2006 and I was twenty-five years old. I had about $25,000 coming in each month from my properties and $1.5 million dollars in equity. Sometimes I’d buy two to four properties at once, fix them up and sell them directly to new owners. I’d take the money I made and put it right back into buying the next property and doing it again.

I’ve learned that people limit themselves by their comfort. Say you’re working fifty hours and then you have to work another ten. In six to nine months, sixty hours is your new normal. You create your own comfort levels. I learned that without passion, working feels like work and you won’t want to do it. I’ve learned that passion is the key to success. And then came the Great Recession of 2008.